The UFC middleweight title challenger has spent a lot of time away from his Huntington Beach residence lately. There was time spent in Mexico, some personal days in Orlando and media responsibilities in New York.

And that’s after a few weeks in Las Vegas serving as one of the coaches on Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which premieres Wednesday night on Fox Sports 1.

We caught up with Gastelum, 26, on Wednesday morning at the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood before the top-ranked 185-pounder made his way to CNN, ESPN and Fox Sports for more interviews.

In Part One of our interview, we talked about what it was like for him to return to the TUF house. It’s been more than five years since Gastelum entered Season 17 at only 20 years old. After being the last pick of coach Chael Sonnen, the southpaw defied the odds to become the youngest winner (at 21) of the show with a stunning split decision over heavy favorite Uriah Hall.

We also got into his coaching style, how it went training men and women, as well as what wisdom he was able to share with his fighters.

Not shown is Gastelum discussing coaching against middleweight champion Rob Whittaker, whom he is scheduled to fight in early 2019. Gastelum confided there’s not a ton of drama between the two on the show as they were professional and enjoyed getting to know each other.

In Part Two of our interview, Gastelum helped break down next weekend’s UFC 228 main event in Dallas between welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Darren Till. The title fight features a few interesting factors, namely whether Till will make weight, what happens if he doesn’t, and the fact he’s in a championship bout after missing weight in his prior fight.

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